Ditch knitting and buy a computer to ward off dementia

Older people hoping to hang on to their memory and thinking skills in later life should pack away their knitting needles and buy a computer, a new study suggests.

Silver surfers in their 70s are 42 per cent less likely to develop the mental problems which precede dementia, compared to technophobes.

Although knitting was found to have some benefit - reducing the risk of memory problems by 16 per cent - the pastime was nowhere near as effective as using a computer for as little as once a week.